For my job they are throwing some additional duties on my plate and are asking me to learn Flash to build web banner ads among other things. Sadly I am not sure how much training the company is going to give me in this as of yet so I wanted to get a jump start on this on my own. I have to pick this up, I am really new to Flash so I need some advice. To those out there that are experienced in Flash, what is the best "tutorial" book out there? I believe "Flash MX" is the latest version of Flash, correct? So what I am looking for is a Flash MX book that starts from scratch with a novice like me and gives me lots of hands on training to help me learn the process. I am the kind of guy that learns more via repetition and examples than by reading page and page and page of text books without getting hands on training. Also, I know everyone's learning curve is different, but starting from scratch like this, how long do you think it would take me to learn the basics to build some rather general Flash banner ads, that dont have too many frills, just moving around of text and stuff? (I do have experience in Photoshop, just not motion graphics like flash) Any general advice from the Flash masters here for a novice like me would GREATLY be appreciated! The faster I pick this stuff up, the more time I can spend on the boards. =)
I hardly know flash at all, but I tok a Director class back in 98. I loved it but I never had a real reason to use it. Flash is one thing I still really want to get into but never really do. I think you could be making simple banner ads in a week. When I did research for a Flash training book last year, "Flash MX 2004 Hands on Training" by Rosanna Yeung was what I ended up getting. I only finished 1/3 of the book before I lost interest. (Damn it I need to get back into that. That's now going to be my New Years resolution.) From what I remember about the tutorials I did do however, it was really easily explained etc. Good book. Good luck.
When you call yourself a "novice", do you mean to say you already know some flash and are thinking about learning more, or do you mean to say that you know NOTHING at all? If it is the first: The program itself has lessons and tutorials in the Help menu, or in the "Welcome" screen. Look for the "Take a Flash tour" and "Take a flash lesson" links. If these are not available, click "Using Flash" from the Help menu. If it is the latter: Search macromedia for some book titles, then go to www.bookpool.com to search, then buy them new at a low price.
MR. MEOWGI, thanks for the info on that book. The reviews on Amazon look pretty good. SwoLy-D, I am just about totally new to it. I got exposed to it a few years ago but pretty much forgot the little that I did learn. I do remember the program's tutorial, but I also remember not liking it all that much which is why I was looking for book with exercises and such. I am surprised I only got 2 replies to this thread. Surely there are more Flash people out there? Anyone??
Well, get urself a nice trenchcoat and be buck naked underneath. Run up to Someone, hopefully the opposite sex and proceed to show her ur "charlie browns". close the jacket and then repeat.
Deuce, I know you're extremely experienced on the web, but what would you consider yourself more of: A programmer or a designer? When I hear "build web banner ads", I think that is something suited to more of a designer. Flash has become a nice mix of both though with Actionscript ... you can do a lot of programming in it. I'm a novice to intermediate at it, but I think you'll pick up the basics quickly. Flash basically has a timeline, and you can create layers like Photoshop. There are three different objects: Graphics, buttons and Movie clips. It's pretty simple to create basic motion ... between two keyframes with the same object in it (say Frame 1 and Frame 10), you just right-click on Frame 1, click "Create Motion Tween" and it will create the smooth animation (if the object in Frame 10 is moved, scaled larger, made transparent, etc.). I'm sure if you're doing basic text flying here and there, you'll knock it out very quick. With ActionScript, you can do some fun stuff ... interact with databases, XML, text files, etc. That is how I did all the flash scoreboard pieces on ClutchFans. I have a ton to learn there. I really want to mess with Flash more ... but I haven't been able to for a long time. Good luck!
Clutch. I'm a programmer, but when I build a website or need to make it look fancy, I have a tool that I use to create flash. Its called swish. You can get a trial version at www.swishzone.com It creates flash files (.swf) and its so easy to use, you can master it in about 1 day worth of playing and by doing the tutorials. I've made some really cool flash using this that I would have never been able to do using the complex macromedia flash. Try it out...
That's what I don't understand. How you can pick up the "Whiz-Bam-Boom" program SwiSH, which is a step above Flash, and it makes animations based on templated text manipulation (basically skipping the frame-by-frame method Macromedia Flash uses), and make Flashy stuff, but you need to learn how to do beginner Flash? I thought you should learn how to crawl, then stand up, then walk, then run. Not get on the motorcycle as soon as you're born. That's like wanting to build great websites before knowing HTML. (I read "A Beginner's Guide to HTML" before getting started on anything web-related). Be careful, though... just because you CAN doesn't mean you SHOULD. Add to that the fact that Flash isn't ADA-compliant.
Clutch, thanks for the reply! I would say I am more of an HTML guy than a "graphics" guy. But I need to learn Flash to at least make some Banner Ads for our site. Move around text etc. I agree that Flash is probably more suited for a "designer" but my staff has been slashed so I have to pick up the slack. I dont anticipate doing high level Flash stuff, but just wanted to get the "basics" down so I have the ability to make some basic Flash Banner ads that would pretty much be moving text around and stuff. I just wanted to ask around to see what good "Flash books" are out there for beginners that really help teach the basics and offer lots of hands on examples to help pound home the points. I am one of those people that learns best by doing the task over and over again, so examples are good. So if anyone has had any good experiences with good entry level Flash books please let me know. The suggestion of "Flash MX 2004 Hands on Training" by Rosanna Yeung was a good one, it seems to have gotten good reviews on Amazon. But I wanted to see if there were others out there so I could compare. Any ideas is appreciated!
I don't know of any good books for it, but http://flashkit.com/tutorials/ has some tutorials that you may want to check out. Also, http://www.were-here.com/ has a good forum for Flash developers and could probably give you some good suggestions.
